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Great American Eclipse

I had the great fortune to be able to join Alaska Airlines on a special flight eclipse flight that left Portland International Airport Monday morning and headed west over the Pacific Ocean to catch a glimpse of the eclipse 15 minutes before it hit land.

Alaska’s charter Flight #9671 left Oregon’s Portland International Airport before 7:30 a.m. Pacific Time and headed west for two hours out over the Pacific Ocean with an invited guest list of astronomy enthusiasts, eclipse-chasers, a NASA astronaut, and social media contest winners.

NASA Astronaut-Michael Barratt was on board

Before entering the path of totality, Alaska Airlines pilots and invited on-board experts, including Evgenya Shkolnik, an astrophysics professor at the School of Earth and Space Exploration at Arizona State University, meteorologist Joe Rao, and NASA Astronaut Michael Barratt explained to passengers technical details involved with both the eclipse and the flight and gave tips on what to look for as the plane entered the path of totality. They also gave passengers a count-down into and out of the path of totality.

Yelps of “There it is!” “Wow! “Oh my goodness!” and “Thank-goodness this worked!” filled the cabin as the flight hit the coordinates that astronomers and pilots had so carefully plotted out beforehand. And, during the 1 minute 43 seconds of the total eclipse, many passengers seated on both the left and right side of the plane swapped seats multiple time so that everyone had a chance to see the astronomical occurrence billed as a “once in a lifetime event.”

Totality – courtesy Alaska Airlines

My full story about the eclipse day adventure is on USA TODAY, but here’s a fun short video of the Great American eclipse flight put together by Alaska Airlines.

Like everyone else, I’m pretty darn excited about the Great American Eclipse taking place on August 21.

I’m luckier than most. Not only do I live not far from the path of totality, but I’ve been invited to join Alaska Airlines on a special flight that will leave Portland International Airport early Monday morning and head out over the ocean to meet the eclipse as it heads towards the west coast.

The plane will be filled with astronomers, airline employees, special guests and media representatives. And while I won’t have one of the highly coveted seats on the right side of the plane where passengers are promised a straight on view of the eclipse from their seats, I’ll have a front row seat for the festivities leading up to the flight and at least a sliver of a galley window during the flight.

There won’t be WIFI on the flight, so I won’t be able to do any live reporting – but my story and some of my photos from the adventure will be on USA TODAY, here on StuckAtTheAirport.com and on social media soon after we land.

In the meantime, I’m getting ready by watching this video taken by a passenger on Alaska Airlines Flight #870 in 2016, when astronomers convinced Alaska Airlines to change the course of the course of a flight from Anchorage to Honolulu just a bit so that eclipse chasers – and regular passengers booked on the flight – could get a view of an eclipse taking place over the Pacific Ocean.

(The 2016 total solar eclipse as seen from Alaska Airlines flight 870; courtesy Alaska Airlines)

If you’re determined to see this summer’s “Great American Eclipse” on August 21, there may be no better place to be than on a special Alaska Airlines charter flight that will give passengers an early – and unique view – of the eclipse.

Alaska’s special eclipse flight will leave Portland, Oregon at 7:30 a.m, and fly off the coast of Oregon to let passengers be among the first to get a glimpse of the eclipse.

Because weather is the largest variable when it comes to eclipse-viewing, and the Pacific Northwest is more prone to overcast skies than most other parts of the country, going up in an airplane above the potential weather or cloud cover, will be an ideal way to see this event.

“As an airline, we are in a unique position to provide a one-of-a-kind experience for astronomy enthusiasts,” said Sangita Woerner, Alaska’s vice president of marketing “Flying high above the Pacific Ocean will not only provide one of the first views, but also one of the best.”

Interested? Who isn’t?

But here’s the catch.

Alaska’s special eclipse flight is invitation-only flight. But the Seattle-based carrier is going to give one lucky fan and a guest a chance to win a seat on the flight with a contest that starts July 21 on Alaska’s social media channels.

We’re setting our clocks for the eclipse – and for the contest details – so stay tuned.

It’s going to be the first coast-to-coast total solar eclipse in United States history since 1918 and will be most view-able first from above the Pacific Ocean before appearing in Oregon and following a diagonal path across the country to South Carolina.